Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Everyday this last
week we’ve had big lightening and thunderstorms. Big enough to turn off the
computer quickly so that a big bang won’t fry the machine. Can’t get much work
done when the computer’s off, but that’s living in the tropics for you.

Well, today we had
another big storm and it was banging away while I was cooking lunch (yes, amazing
that I was cooking, eh?). I needed some hot water for the pasta - I learned a
new trick from my friend Pierre to heat the water in the electric kettle rather
than in a pot on the stove. Boils much faster in the kettle. So, that’s what I
did, or thought I did. I didn’t see the kettle light go on and so I turned it
on again and it flipped off. Checking the metal part of the kettle to see if it
was hot, I touched it with two of my fingers and WHAM! A bolt of electricity
ran up my arm to the top of my head and down to my knees. Knocked me back! I
yelped and stood there for a moment as it hurt. Hurt badly.

Lipton turned off
the kettle at the wall and finished cooking lunch while I sat down and tried to
screw my head back on.

Since then, and
it’s now 8PM, I’ve had a blinding headache. I took my migraine med but it did
nothing. I tried to take a nap, still nothing. By tomorrow I’ll be fine (I am fine!) and
I’ll call in the electrician to fix whatever went wrong.

Neither Lipton nor
I can remember if there was a loud clap of thunder at the time I got zapped, so
I’m not sure it was the storm – perhaps just something faulty with the kettle.
I’m sticking to gas until the electrician gets here!

Monday, April 28, 2014

Every year around
the time of the Sinhala New Year comes a Whoop
Oop Oop from the neighboring trees. It’s a loud birdcall of the Ati Kukula
and this morning four of them were going at it and Whoop Oop Oop’ing it up. So loud that their calls woke me up.

I’ve seen this bird
in my garden and I usually get Toby to chase it away. I had a nest of baby
birds and my old house and an Ati Kukula snuck up and ate them! I’m not a fan
of this bird, but I did learn that they eat snakes, and so if they are stalking
around on the ground, I’ll let them be, but if they are in the trees where the
other birds nest, I send out Toby!

They have red eyes
and walk in a stalking manner. I’ve never seen it do its famous call, but I
find them quite creepy.

As I write there
are two of them calling to each other in the tree by my bedroom window. I wish
I could get a sound bite for the blog. One time I was talking to my
granddaughter in the US on my mobile and she heard the Ati Kukula whooping it
up in the background. Made her miss the Sri Lanka she came to visit one year.

As for me, I could
have used a bit more sleep this morning, instead of waking up to the Ati Kukulas
calling to each other!

I've not gotten a photo of the New Years noise maker, so I took an image off the web and a video off youtube.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Years ago, while
walking around Galle Fort (in Southern Sri Lanka), I saw this lovely old hotel
and took a photo from the outside. Wanting to see more of the New Orient Hotel,
I walked into its dusty, dark interior.

‘You can’t come in,’
a man said to me from out of the darkness.

Never one to stop
taking a photo because I’m told to, I started taking pictures. Also, by that
time, I knew that Sri Lankans were just too polite to confront and really kick
me out. I was banking on this man to be too polite.

It was difficult to
get a good shot because of the darkness, but I did my best. I wanted to wander
around some, but the m

an wasn’t going to be pushed that far, so I was happy with just the lobby area.

The hotel has since been bought by the Aman conglomerate and totally redone and renamed to the Amangalla Hotel. I’ve captured a newer view of it off the web, for you to see the difference.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Yesterday Lipton
did a portrait shoot for the famous lead singer of the band Flame, and ex-DJ for Real Radio, Raajnie
Anne Jayamanne. She’s one of our favorite subjects. A real sizzler!

Although portraits
are my all-time favorite shoots, I kept out of the way because Anne and Lipton
have a special chemistry on camera and so, I let them go at it! I should have
been working on LucysBuzz but I was
too busy editing photos and got caught up in that vortex of details.

For the last month,
Lipton has been working on short videos of people dancing to the Pharrell
Williams song ‘Happy’. It’s been such
fun and Anne definitely wanted to join in and do a ‘Happy Dance!’ I’ve done two
and they are addictive – I want Lipton to showcase ME! But alas, it’s going to
showcase everyone and anyone. It’ll go up on our Facebook page as soon as it’s
done! Watch this space.

Until then you can
check out these still shots of Anne dancing, and some from Lipton’s portrait
shoot with her!